The 2003 Ipswich 300 (known for naming rights reasons as the 2003 BigPond 300) was the seventh round of the 2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series. It was held on the weekend of 18 to 20 July at the Queensland Raceway in Ipswich, Queensland. The race was scheduled for 96 laps at a distance of 300 kilometers.

Russell Ingall continued Stone Brothers Racing's extraordinary run of form by securing his first win for the team and for the Ford marque. Teammate Marcos Ambrose had been the pacesetter throughout the weekend. However, contact in the pitlane with Steven Ellery led to the Tasmanian being issued a drive-through penalty, stunting his campaign. Mark Skaife had taken the lead of the race early on but suffered an engine failure toward the end.

Background The event was held on the weekend of 18 to 20 July 2003. It was the third V8 Supercar event to be held at Queensland Raceway in the sprint format and consisted of one 300 km race with two compulsory pitstops for fuel and tyres. This was the first solo driver event at the venue since 2000. From 2000 to 2002, the circuit had played host to the Queensland 500.

Entry list

There were 33 drivers entered into the event. It featured mixture of vehicle models - four AU Ford Falcon's, thirteen BA Falcon's, six VY Commodore's, and nine VX Commodore's.

Rod Nash Racing debuted their brand-new BA Falcon to be driven by David Besnard for this round.

Wayne Wakefield returned to the championship, driving a VX Commodore fielded by Paul Morris Motorsport.

Race report Qualifying Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.3723 2 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.4488 3 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.6835 4 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.8127 5 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.8798 6 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.8878 7 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:10.8959 8 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.9403 9 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.9416 10 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:10.9576 11 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.9649 12 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:11.0561 13 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:11.0955 14 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:11.1909 15 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:11.2004 16 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.2303 17 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:11.2406 18 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:11.2913 19 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:11.3259 20 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:11.3759 21 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:11.4315 22 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.4820 23 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:11.4866 24 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.5285 25 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.5520 26 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.6622 27 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:11.6848 28 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.7064 29 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 1:11.7666 30 23 Mark Noske Noske Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 1:11.8117 31 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:12.2909 32 24 Wayne Wakefield Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 1:12.4056 33 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 1:13.2566 Source:

Top ten shootout Pos No Driver Team Vehicle Time 1 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:10.7717 2 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:10.8862 3 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 1:11.0100 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:11.1110 5 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 1:11.1262 6 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.1783 7 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 1:11.3666 8 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 1:11.4180 9 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 1:11.5287 10 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 1:11.5462 Source:

Race Pos No Driver Team Car Laps Time/Retired Grid 1 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 96 01:57:26.4960 4 2 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 96 + 3.279 1 3 2 Todd Kelly Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 96 + 18.369 8 4 29 Paul Morris Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 96 + 24.099 3 5 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 96 + 26.724 6 6 6 Craig Lowndes Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 96 + 29.468 11 7 888 John Bowe Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 96 + 34.505 9 8 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 96 + 42.777 7 9 15 Rick Kelly John Kelly Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 96 + 51.899 16 10 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 96 + 1:02.025 24 11 19 David Besnard Rod Nash Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 96 + 1:02.908 14 12 17 Steven Johnson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 95 + 1 lap 15 13 8 Paul Dumbrell Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VX) 95 + 1 lap 28 14 31 Steven Ellery Steven Ellery Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 95 + 1 lap 17 15 3 Cameron McConville Lansvale Racing Team Holden Commodore (VX) 95 + 1 lap 25 16 33 Jamie Whincup Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 95 + 1 lap 26 17 20 Jason Bargwanna Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 95 + 1 lap 21 18 021 Craig Baird Team Kiwi Racing Holden Commodore (VX) 94 + 2 laps 22 19 75 Anthony Tratt Paul Little Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 94 + 2 laps 31 20 45 Jason Richards Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 93 + 3 laps 23 21 23 Mark Noske Noske Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 92 + 4 laps 30 22 66 Dean Canto Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 92 + 4 laps 13 23 99 David Thexton Thexton Motor Racing Ford Falcon (AU) 92 + 4 laps 32 24 18 Max Wilson Dick Johnson Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 90 + 6 laps 18 25 34 Garth Tander Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore (VY) 78 + 18 laps 19 Ret 65 Paul Radisich Briggs Motorsport Ford Falcon (BA) 95 Retired 10 Ret 1 Mark Skaife Holden Racing Team Holden Commodore (VY) 88 Engine 2 Ret 10 Mark Larkham Larkham Motorsport Ford Falcon (AU) 88 Spun off 20 Ret 44 Simon Wills Team Dynamik Holden Commodore (VY) 51 Retired 5 Ret 11 Steven Richards Perkins Engineering Holden Commodore (VY) 41 Retired 29 Ret 21 Brad Jones Brad Jones Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 24 Retired 27 Ret 5 Glenn Seton Ford Performance Racing Ford Falcon (BA) 11 Retired 12 DNS 24 Wayne Wakefield Paul Morris Motorsport Holden Commodore (VX) 0 Did not start Fastest Lap: Marcos Ambrose (Stone Brothers Racing) - 1:11.0680 on lap 45 Source:

Championship standings No Driver Team 1 50 Jason Bright Paul Weel Racing 1195 2 4 Marcos Ambrose Stone Brothers Racing 1159 3 51 Greg Murphy John Kelly Racing 1101 4 9 Russell Ingall Stone Brothers Racing 1013 5 16 Paul Weel Paul Weel Racing 1007

References